The Billy Upholstered Ottoman Bed Frame is the ottoman to choose when the bed has to go against a wall, because it lifts from the foot end, not the side. It's low-rise, with 20cm of storage and solid slats. That low height is the catch: if anyone sleeping in it has stiff knees or hips, getting up from a bed this low is harder work than it looks in a photo.
End-opening storage for a narrow room
The base lifts from the foot of the bed, which means you only need standing room at the end, not down a long side. The storage inside is 20cm deep, a little shallower than Dreams' side-opening frames, and the platform under the mattress is solid wooden slats, which give a firm, flat foundation. It's upholstered in woven fabric and weighs 57kg flat-packed.
Dreams photographs it under a sloping attic ceiling, and that's a good fit: the headboard is short and the whole bed sits low, so it tucks under the eaves where a tall headboard wouldn't. For a loft room, a narrow box room or a studio flat where the bed lives along a wall, that end-opening lid is the whole reason to buy it. Under-bed boxes would need clear floor down the side too.
Low is lovely until you have to get up
Dreams describes the Billy as streamlined and low rise. I like the look, but bed height counts for more as we get older. You want to sit on the edge with your feet flat and stand up without pushing off the mattress, so sit on a low bed in a showroom before you buy one and see how you get up. It's the wrong bed for an older sleeper or anyone with stiff joints. A thin mattress makes it lower still, so avoid pairing it with one.
Dreams' Billy assembly guide shows a metal slat frame with a centre rail and metal support legs, plus a weight table for the mattress the gas struts are set for.1 Check your mattress sits inside it, and use the strap in the middle of the bed to lift it, as the guide says.
What to buy instead
If you have space down one side, the Phoenix Upholstered Ottoman gives you a little more storage depth and isn't sold as low-rise. For an older sleeper who needs storage, look for an end-opening ottoman at a standard height rather than a low-rise one.
